Senate unveils bill on federal land

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

A bill that could literally transform the political geography of Clark County was formally introduced Tuesday.

The introduction made the specific language of the bill widely available for the first time. Nevada's senators unveiled the board provisions of the Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act last week.

The bill would designate 444,000 acres in Clark County as federal wilderness, making it off-limits to motorized vehicles and new roads.

Another 30,000 acres of federal land would be slated for commercial or residential development. Another 231,000 acres of federal "Wilderness Study Areas" -- which are treated as wilderness on a temporary basis -- would be released but would have no designated purpose.

The land removed from wilderness study "may be developed or not," said Tessa Hafen, spokeswoman for Sen. Harry Reid, co-sponsor of the legislation.

The bill will next go to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Hafen said it is not clear whether hearings will be scheduled to discuss the legislation.

The bill has broad bipartisan support. Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, co-sponsored the bill.

Hafen said maps that show the boundaries of the legislation should be available to local, state and federal officials today or later this week. The maps are important because they delineate the borders of the areas set aside for wilderness, development or other uses.

Elements of the bill include:

A swap of about 1,000 acres of Howard Hughes Corp. land for land in the southwest valley -- a swap that would protect the eastern parts of the Red Rock National Conservation Area and provide federal land for a county park in the southwest valley.

Land near the airport for a research park and technology center.

Land north of the Las Vegas Valley for use as a shooting range by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Land in Henderson for the Nevada State College, and for an "economic development zone."

Conveyance of the Sunrise Mountain landfill to Clark County.

Protection as wilderness some of the best and least known environmentally sensitive areas throughout the county.

Among the additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System would be land in and around the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the Toiyabe National Forest and the Spring Mountains, Mount Charleston, and the McCullough Range in the south part of Clark County.

Developers, off-road-vehicle enthusiasts, sportsmen and officials from Clark County's local governments had mostly welcomed the bill as a viable compromise that neither fully pleased nor totally offended any constituency last week.

Environmentalists also called the bill "a good first step" in terms of wilderness protection, but questioned a proposal to set aside more than 6,000 acres near Jean for residential and commercial development.

The final draft of the bill deletes the references to the development in Jean.

"That's excellent," said Jane Feldman, conservation committee co-chairwoman for the local arm of the Sierra Club. "That's good news. That kind of go-slow approach is what we need to be doing right now.

"We would like to see a larger core of wilderness for permanent protection status, but that would probably be the case no matter how much they gave us," she added.

Hafen said the bill would probably be passed into law before the end of this calendar year.